Archive for the ‘New Beginning’ Category
Friday, April 20th, 2012
What’s the cost of following a dream?
Dreams aren’t free. You pay to follow a dream. Costs are measured in dollars, time, effort, and emotion.
How do you decide if following a dream is “worth it”?
Frankly, I don’t know how you answer that question. I suppose you can weigh anticipated risk against predicted reward, but I don’t think the decision to follow a dream depends on a balance sheet.
In fact, I’d bet most dreams wouldn’t survive an up-front cost-benefit analysis. I think you follow a dream despite potential risk
or cost.
A DREAM is a God-inspired desire to use your gifts and passions to serve and change the world.
When you respond to a God-inspired desire, I think you’re all-in. Jesus called it “counting the cost.”
But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? (Luke 14:28)
Jesus was talking about the cost of following Him. He admonished listeners to understand that following Him requires total commitment. You don’t get to hold anything back.
That’s kind of how it is to follow a dream. You jump into the deep end without knowing where it’ll lead or how it’ll turn out. You vow to do whatever it takes and trust God for the rest.
The size of your dream reflects the size of your God. If it doesn’t scare you, maybe you’re not dreaming big enough. It’s #1 on my list of What Did I Learn from Rich’s Ride:
Don’t allow your resources to determine your vision.
If the dream’s God-inspired, it’s worth it—whatever “it” happens to be.
CIR Members can share their thoughts regarding this blog
here
Don’t miss CIR’s Daily Article ! 
Copyright 2008-2012 by Rich Dixon, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
Rich is an author and speaker. He is the author of: 
Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance. Visit his web site www.relentlessgrace.co
Tags: Attitudes, Choices, failure, hardship, ministry, New Beginning, rejection, worry
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Anxiety, Assurance, Attitudes, Choices, Faith, For Friends & Family of Dysfunctional People, New Beginning, Pastors & Recovery Pros, Renewal, Step 12, Step 2 | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Yesterday my friend Jon Swanson posted an article titled How Jesus Fixed Breakfast For Some Losers. Jon’s final line: If you’ve left your nets to follow Jesus, the way forward isn’t going to be by going back.
Jon’s got me thinking about how often I “go back.” Jesus addressed it:
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Mark 2:21-22
I can’t patch Jesus onto the holes in my old life. I can’t dump out the junk and pour Him into the same empty container.
Jesus didn’t come to prop up a sagging life or serve as a fresh coat of paint on a dilapidated house. He came to tear down the old and build something new. He offers a solid foundation, but the old building’s gotta go first.
Am I willing to let Him do that? “Die to self” is a catchy little phrase–except for the “die” part. That pretty scary if I take it seriously.
But I think that’s exactly what He wants.
CIR Members can share their thoughts regarding this blog
here
Don’t miss CIR’s Daily Article !
Copyright 2008-2012 by Rich Dixon, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.Rich is an author and speaker. He is the author of:
Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance. Visit his web site www.relentlessgrace.com
Tags: Attitudes, Choices, failure, Forgiveness of God, God's Love, healing, New Beginning, Responsibility
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Assurance, Attitudes, Choices, Faith, Forgiveness of God, General Recovery, New Beginning, Renewal, Responsibility, Step 3 | Comments Off
Friday, April 13th, 2012
As I thought about the first Easter morning, it prompted me to wonder how I would’ve felt if I’d been part of Jesus’ circle of followers.
I missed the entire message. Jesus told me—in person—exactly what was going to happen. I listened, but obviously failed to understand.
I fell asleep, denied and deserted Him, and ran away. I hid in fear of the authorities. Despite hearing His teaching first-hand for three years, despite the miracles and healings, I clearly didn’t get it. I thought Jesus was dead and gone.
I’m overwhelmed with regret. Once I saw the empty tomb and realized He was really alive, I felt like a fool. I missed my chance. I regret my lack of faith and my unwillingness to support my friend and teacher.
I’ll bet He’s really angry at me, and really disappointed that I let Him down. I don’t think I can face Him. I’m afraid He’ll see only my shortcomings and failures.
I wouldn’t blame Him if He decided to dump all of us and find more dependable followers.
I blew it.
And then Jesus appeared and said, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus didn’t reject His friends. He assured them it would all be okay. Despite all their failures He stuck with them. He used them to spread His message and build His church.
I think that’s still happening today. He’s offering another chance.
I’m relieved. I’m grateful.
CIR Members can share their thoughts regarding this blog
here
Don’t miss CIR’s Daily Article !
Copyright 2008-2012 by Rich Dixon, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
Rich is an author and speaker. He is the author of:
Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance. Visit his web site www.relentlessgrace.com
Tags: Attitudes, backsliding, Choices, failure, Forgiveness of God, God's Love, healing, New Beginning, Pain, reconciliation, Responsibility
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Attitudes, Choices, Faith, Forgiveness of God, New Beginning, Pain, Renewal, Responsibility | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
A bible story and a television commercial got me thinking about:
CATEGORIES
In a commercial for a soft drink, people appear on a street wearing t-shirts proclaiming their identity.
I’m a dreamer.
I’m a winner.
I’m a survivor.
I’m a wingman.
I’m a beginner.
I’m a fighter.
I’m a …
I wonder what it would look like if we gathered all the dreamers in a group, the winners in another group, and so on. Would the wingmen look different than the survivors? The beginners? The fighters?
Maybe more importantly…would we judge them, treat them differently, simply because of the labels on their shirts?
Sounds silly, right? Why would we base our opinions of people on something as superficial as a t-shirt slogan?
What if the labels were things like Democrat or Republican? How about Christian? Muslim? Mormon?
If we’re honest, I’ll bet some of those labels evoke some sort of reaction. It’s as though we know something about those people. We categorize individuals based on labels, and those categories subtly, or not so subtly, impact how we engage them.
Jesus experienced that same issue. In Mark 2:13-17 He called Levi to follow Him. Then He did the socially unthinkable: He accepted Levi’s dinner invitation.
Levi’s t-shirt said “I’m a tax collector.” In first century Jewish culture the tax collectors were the lowest of the low, the worst of the worst. They were outcasts, shunned by nearly everyone. So Levi’s only friends were other outcasts. In fact, they probably all wore shirts proclaiming “I’m an outcast.”
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (verse 16)
I do it. You do it. We all put people in categories, often based on a superficial label that has little to do with the heart inside the shirt.
I’m beginning this week with gratitude for Jesus, who sees me and not the label on my t-shirt.
CIR Members can share their thoughts regarding this blog
here
Don’t miss CIR’s Daily Article !
Copyright 2008-2012 by Rich Dixon, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.Rich is an author and speaker. He is the author of:
Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance. Visit his web site
www.relentlessgrace.com
Tags: Attitudes, Choices, disabilities, failure, judgement, New Beginning, rejection, respect, Responsibility, self image
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Attitudes, Choices, Faith, General Recovery, New Beginning, Renewal, Responsibility, Step 12, Step 2 | Comments Off
Monday, April 9th, 2012
by Michael Liimatta
You probably need to consider seeking help if:
** The last thing in the world you want to do is talk about your possible areas of “stuckness”.
** Your life is getting to be a repeat of one disaster after another.
** You are finding you feel less and less in control over problems you once thought were under control.
** You have noticed an increase in the frequency of the behaviors that you believe are a problem (lying, stealing, drinking, eating, gambling, etc.)
** You have family members that have begun to show concern about problem areas in your life.
** You feel that you are getting more of the things that you don’t want and less of the things you do want.
** You have unresolved issues from your past that periodically resurface, much to your discomfort.
– Tim Timmons from his tape set “AA means Anyone Anonymous”
Tags: Choices, New Beginning, Responsibility
Posted in Choices, General Recovery, New Beginning, Step 1 | Comments Off
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
Which experiences have shaped your identity?
This question is prompted by my opportunity to talk to some students this morning about Experiences That Shape Our Identities.
I think I understand the teacher’s point. She wants me to tell her kids about my story and how it impacts my self-image. It’ll be a great discussion, except for one minor detail: my identity isn’t shaped by experiences, but by my attitudes toward those experiences.
Life’s not about what happens to us, it’s about how we choose to respond.
So I’ll tell them about the injury and how I felt sorry for myself for a decade. I’ll tell them how a crummy attitude made me a disabled, helpless, hopeless guy.
But I’ll also tell them God showed me a better way, that I learned I didn’t have to travel this difficult road alone. I’ll tell them Jesus helped me change my attitude, and that new attitude shapes my identity much more than a wheelchair.
Kids need to know that experiences matter. They need to know even more that they have the power to overcome their circumstances.
I hope I don’t wreck the premise of the unit.
Which attitudes shape your identity?
CIR Members can share their thoughts regarding this blog
here
Don’t miss CIR’s Daily Article !
Copyright 2008-2012 by Rich Dixon, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.Rich is an author and speaker. He is the author of:
Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance. Visit his web site www.relentlessgrace.com
Tags: Attitudes, Choices, disabilities, hardship, Pain, peace, Responsibility, self image, strength
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Attitudes, Choices, Faith, General Recovery, New Beginning, Pain, Renewal, Responsibility, Step 3 | Comments Off
Friday, March 30th, 2012
One day Jesus took a walk on the beach and saw two brothers named Simon and Andrew working as fishermen.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
I would have asked where we were going. If you’re asked to take a trip, isn’t it fair to know at least the general path you’re going to follow? Shouldn’t you get to know what’s going to happen, what’s going to be expected from you, before you commit?
I think God’s answer is, “No.”
I’ve spent the last eighteen months or so immersed in this notion of chasing dreams, and if I’ve learned one thing it’s that God isn’t usually going to show me the entire course before I begin. Even when I think I know what’s supposed to happen or what He wants, I’m likely to be wrong.
It’s up to me to prepare as much as possible, but at some point I have to take a step without knowing much more than the next step along the path. There has to be a certain amount of trust that God will show me what I need to know when I need to know it.
Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t claim to know exactly how that works, and I certainly don’t claim that it’s easy or comfortable to commit to a process when you don’t know where it’s leading. And I don’t claim some heroic sense of faith about stepping into the unknown.
But I’m pretty sure that God’s not about easy or comfortable. I think He values character over comfort and motives over results or even specific purposes. And I think He totally understands how hard it is to do something completely on faith, especially when it’s scary. That’s why He offers to journey with us.
He didn’t say, “Go.” He said, Come, follow me.”
I once read a survey that claimed that more than 90% of the respondents wanted to write a book and fewer than 1% actually wrote one. So what distinguished the 1%? Was it talent? Vision? Purpose? God’s guidance?
I don’t think it was any of those. I think what distinguished the 1% was that at some point they actually sat down and wrote. They started.
A dream is the God-inspired desire to share your unique gifts and passions to serve others and make a difference in the world.
That “God-inspired desire” is present in every person.
To every one of us He says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18)
To every one of us He says, “Come, follow me.”
I think He’s still saying those things. Right now.
CIR Members can share their thoughts regarding this blog
here
Don’t miss CIR’s Daily Article !
Copyright 2008-2012 by Rich Dixon, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.Rich is an author and speaker. He is the author of:
Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance. Visit his web site www.relentlessgrace.com
Tags: Attitudes, God's Love, hardship, ministry, New Beginning, rights, self-will, worry
Posted in Anxiety, Assurance, Attitudes, Faith, General Recovery, New Beginning, Pastors & Recovery Pros, Renewal, Step 12, Step 3 | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
Psalm 37:11: “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.”
When some people think of meekness, they think of weakness or of being a doormat.
That is not what Scripture means. According to Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, meekness has to do with our relationship with God. “It is that temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting.”
I don’t know about you, but I struggle to accept some of God’s dealings with me as good. I haven’t fought an angel and ended up with a limp as Jacob in the Old Testament did, but I’ve thought about it.
I initially disputed the good of breast cancer and the loss of my only child.
Now that I see how God has used both trials for good in my life and the lives of others.
I love to hear that I’ve won or inherited something. Don’t you? God says, “The meek will inherit the land.” Since God’s gifts are good and perfect, I want that land.
God also promises the meek will “enjoy great peace.” With the bad economy and all its frightening consequences, peace is rare, great peace more so.
Dear God, help me have a meek spirit with you. Amen.
Application: What will you do this week to enjoy great peace?
Tags: Attitudes, Choices, hardship, healing, New Beginning, Pain, Responsibility
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Anxiety, Attitudes, Faith, New Beginning, Renewal, Responsibility, Step 2, Step 3 | Comments Off
Monday, March 26th, 2012
Simply, [the one who sins] must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on 
to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God’s stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.
~ A. W. Tozer
Tags: bondage, Choices, Forgiveness of God, God's Love, healing, New Beginning, peace, Responsibility, salvation
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Faith, General Recovery, New Beginning, Renewal, Responsibility, Step 2, Step 3 | Comments Off
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
Are you obedient?
Our small group is studying Mark’s gospel. This week we read these verses:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:35-38
He’d been teaching and healing, helping people. He was doing good things in this town, and obviously the word had spread. And now He walked away from them.
How did He find that kind of courage? How could He be so absolutely certain of His mission that He turned away from people who needed Him?
It’s one thing to wonder what I’m supposed to do. In fact, perhaps the best excuse for inaction is ‘I’m not sure what God wants.” I can procrastinate forever as long as I seek absolute certainty about God’s direction.
But what if I know what He wants and it doesn’t make sense? Or it’s scary or risky or uncomfortable?
People were hungry to hear Jesus. They needed His healing touch. I’m sure He wanted to meet their needs. Teaching and healing are good things. I think it was hard for Jesus to walk away.
I don’t know what He said when He went off to pray, but I imagine He talked to God about two things. I think He asked for clarity about His mission, and I think He asked for the courage to turn away from easy good things in order to focus on the hard great thing He came to accomplish.
I can find a lot of easy good things to do. They make me feel good, they help people, and others are impressed. I don’t need much help from God.
I’m afraid of hard great things.
That’s where obedience begins.
I need the courage to turn away from “easy good” and face “hard great.”
Can you think of areas where you use easy good things to avoid hard great things?
Tags: Choices, Responsibility
Posted in Ability to Overcome, Attitudes, Choices, Faith, New Beginning, Responsibility, Step 3 | Comments Off
